This CD reissues one of the stranger jazz recordings. Pianist
Dick Hyman
wrote the music for a dozen sonnets by William Shakespeare, songs that had appeared in some of Shakespeare's comedies. Classical baritonist
Earl Wrightson
originally recorded the pieces, and a few years later,
Maxine Sullivan
made this jazz version for Monmouth-Evergreen. Her performances (with
Hyman
, trumpeter
Rusty Dedrick
, guitarist
Bucky Pizzarelli
, bassist
Milt Hinton
and drummer
Don Lamond
) were rather brief, so for the Audiophile reissue,
recorded additional solo renditions of most of the selections. Overall,
Sullivan's
vocals get a bit hard to take, due to the antiquated lyrics (although her voice sounds fine), and none of
Hyman's
melodies are all that memorable, even though a couple of his later solos display some heat. A historical curiosity, but little more. ~ Scott Yanow